AT NYT, Adam Liptak Graphics by Alicia Parlapiano:
A look at how individual justices voted in divided cases issued after oral arguments brings trends at the court into sharp relief, according to data compiled and analyzed by Lee Epstein and Andrew D. Martin, both of Washington University in St. Louis, and Michael J. Nelson of Penn State.
By that measure, the court is extraordinarily polarized. Two of the four most conservative justices to serve since 1937 are on the current court: Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. (The others were Chief Justices William H. Rehnquist and Warren E. Burger.)
In that same time span, two of the five most liberal justices are currently sitting: Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. (The others were Justices Thurgood Marshall, William J. Brennan Jr. and William O. Douglas.)
Overall, in divided cases argued in the last term, Democratic appointees voted for a liberal result 83 percent of the time and Republican ones 33 percent of the time — a 50 percentage point gap.
Overall, in divided cases argued in the last term, Democratic appointees voted for a liberal result 83 percent of the time and Republican ones 33 percent of the time — a 50 percentage point gap.
